Grain-separator.



No. 653,777. Patented luly I7, |900. E. E. MGLIN.

GRAIN SEPARATUR. (Application led Nov. 8, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheei l.'

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"Mmm Z9 No. 653,777. svatented July I7, |900.

E. E. mun.

GRAIN SEPARATUR.

(Application led Nov. 8, 1899.) 1

(No Model.) Sheets-Sheet 2.

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lin the county of Wayne and State of Illinois,

-ed for grading the grain into four different Same.

reception of interchangeable cylinder-covervcylinder-covering to the Skeleton frame and Yand removably in place.

'deiecoverings embodying different numbers yNITED STATES.

v'ljntrrnarr OFFICE.

ELAM E. MGLIN, OF FAIRFIELD, ILLINOIS.

eRAlNssEeAR/iron.

SPECIFICATION forming paie of Letters Patent No. 653,777, ieee-a July 17, 1900. Application iiletl November 8. 1899. b'erial No. 736,262. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may conceive:

Be it known that I, ELAM E. MCLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield,

have invented a new and useful Grain-Separator, of which the following is a specificatlOIl'.

My invention relates to improvements in grain-separators; and one object is to provide an improved construction adapted to separate different kinds of grain by the interchange of diderent screens, each especially adapted to the particular class of grain to be treated, the screens being constructed for ready interchangeability and for use in connection with a single skeleton frame or cyl-v inder.

A further object is to provide a separator of the kind mentioned with screens adapted to grade the grain according to size, such machine embodying the different compartments into which the diiferent grades of seed are individually discharged.

With these ends in view 'the invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a grainseparator constructed in accordance with my invention and showing the cylinder thereof provided with screens adaptclasses according to size. Fig. 2 is a vertical central transverse sectional view of the Fig. 3 is a detail view, in side elevation, of the skeleton frame adapted for the ings. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical crosssection of the separating and grading cylinder, illustrating the application of a screened the means for clamping saidpcovering firmly Fig. 5 is a plan View of the series of connected slats forming the foundation for the screen fabric. Figs. 6, 7, and S are plan views of different cylin- The same numerals of reference are used to indicate like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

The operative elements of my improved grain separator and grader are supported by the end frames 10 and ll, each of which con-i sists of a pair of crossed legs suitably joined together, as shown by Fig. 2. The box or receptacle 12 is arranged longitudinally between the end frames. This box consists of the sloping sides 13, terminating in the vertical side walls 14:, the ends 13a, the curved hood 15, and the bottom 16, all of said parts being firmly .joined together, except that the curved hood may be seated removably on the walls let or otherwise confined movably in position. The inclination of the side walls 13 adapts the box or receptacle to be seated firmly upon the upper part of the crossed pairs of legs at the respective ends of the machine. In the bottom of the box or receptacle are a series of transverse openings 17, each adapted to be closed by a pivoted gate or a slide 18, said gate serving to confine the seed within the box or to be adjusted to a position for exposing the opening and thereby discharging the seed from the box. A hopper 19, of any suitable construction, is disposed at one end of the machine, and from this hopper leads a spout 20, the latter being inclined from the bottom of the hopper and extended through an end wall of the box to discharge the seed intothe'revoluble screen-cylinder. One element of this screen-cylinder is a skeleton frame, which is shown in detail by Fig. 3 of the drawings. This skeleton frame comprises the longitudinal shaft 21, a head 23, a ring-like or annular head 24, and a spider 26. The cylinder-shaftA 21 is preferably square lor of other polygonal form in cross-section, except at the ends, said ends of the shaft being reduced and formed with' cylindrical trunnions 22, adapted to suitable bearings in the opposite ends of the box or receptacle. The head 23 is slipped on the squared shaft to lie near one end thereof, and this head is preferably solid or non-perforated, although this is not material. The annular or ring-like ICO .ton frame.

head 2-1 corresponds in diameter to the head 22, and it is supported at the opposite end of the shaft by the braces 25, the same being shown by Figs. l and 3 as attached to the head and the shaft, although the braces may be made a part of the head and made fast with the shaft in any snit-able way. The spider 26 is cast in a single piece with a hub and a series of radial arms 27, and said hub is fast with the cylinder-shaft at a point equidistant from the oppositely-arranged heads 23 24, this spider thus serving as an intermediate support or brace for the interchangeable cylinder-coverings. The shaft 2l extends longitudinally through the casing for its j ournals to find their bearings in opposite end Walls, one end of said shaft being extended beyond the casing or box for the reception of Aa crank 2S or other suitable means by which the screen-cylinder may be rotated.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings Ihave represented the foundation for the screen cloth or fabric or screens which are used in connection with said foundation to provide a cylindercovering, and in my invention Icontemplate the employment of a series of these screencloths, which are interchangeable one with the other and adapted to be used singly or in unison, each covering being adapted to be applied and clamped to the skeleton frame shown by Fig. 3, between the same and the flexible foundation, to form therewith a revoluble separating and grading cylinder. The foundation consists of a series of slats 29, spaced a suitable dist-ance apart and arranged parallel With each other. These series of slats may be connected flexibly together by any suitable means; but in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, the slats are shown as being joined flexibly by a series of connecting-Wires 30, each of which is letinto grooves 3l,formed in the outer faces of the slats and are made secure thereto by the fasteners 31, such fasteners being in .the form of staples, although the particular means for fastening the Wires to the slats are not material. The fiexible foundation is shown by the drawings as consisting ofa series of seven slats,while the'spider of the skeleton frame is represented by Fig. 2 as having a series of six radial arms. The flexible foundation, which carries the screen cloth or screen-cloths forming the cylinder-covering, is adapted to be bent into cylindrical shape and to be applied externally around the skele- This flexible foundation has its slats arranged to lie in the radial planes of the arms on the spider 26, so that one slat will lie opposite each arm except Where the two side slats of the flexible-screen foundation meet or join one With the other. (See Figs. 2 and 4.) In Fig. 6 of the drawings I have shown the foundation as having a single screen-cloth 33 placed on the slats thereof and a cylinder having a screen of this character is adapted to separate the grain into two grades, one grade of the seed passing through the interstices of the screen and the other grade of seed being discharged fromA the end of the cylinder. In Fig.` 7 the foundation is shown as having two screens 3l 35 placed on the slats, said screens having meshes of differentsizes. The screen 34C is a comparatively-ne screen secured to the head end of the cylinder, while the screen 35 is coarser than the screen 34 and is secured onto the -flexibly-connected slats in overlapping relation to the screen 34, one end of the screen 35 terminating within the ends of the series of slats, so that one grade of the seed may be discharged from the end of the cylinder. The screen-covering shown by Figs. l and S embodies a series of three screens 36 37 3S, secured to the series of slats in overlapping relation and With'the coarser screen fabric 38 terminating in one end of the series of slats, said screen fabrics having meshes of different sizes, whereby the cylinder-covering is adapted to separate grain and to grade the latter according to four different sizes of the seed, seed of three different sizes passing through the different fabrics,whle the largest seed are discharged over the edge of the fabric 38, within the end head of the cylinder. The screens used are in practice usually wirecloths.

Either of the cylinder-coverings represented by Figs. 6, 7, and 8 may be applied to the skeleton frame by first placing the screencloth on the exible foundation and then bending the flexible foundation and the screens around the frame to bring the end slats of the series into abuttingA relation, While the other slats are alined with the radial arms of the spider. or fabrics lie next to the heads and spider of the skeleton frame, while the slats areexposed exteriorly to the fabric, (see Fig. 4,) and when the screen-covering shall have been properly applied to the skeleton frame I adjust the means by which the flexible foundation is clamped rmly around the skeleton frame. Any suitable means may be adopted for this purpose; but I prefer to employ a series of annular clamps 39, one of which is arranged opposite to the heads 23 24: and to the intermediate spider 26. Each annular clamp is in the form of a flexible or elastic bandl having an ear or lug 40 at one end. A bail or loop 41 is connected pivotally to the opposite end of the band, so as to be drawn over the ear by the action of a binding-lever 42.

IOO

The screen `fabric Y The annular clamp is adapted to closely cir- Y coverings embody a screen or screens especially adapted to the work of separating and grading a particular kind of seed-such, for instance, as wheat and clover-seed. The described construction of the cylinder enables the farmer or owner of the machine to readily adapt the latter to the performance of the special class of work, and thus the expense of different machines or, at most, of different cylinders is obviated by the provision of different cylinder-coverings adapted to be readily interchanged for use in connection with a single skeleton frame and the box or receptacle.

The compartment formed by the inclined sides 13 of the box or receptacle 12 is divided into a number of chambers by the employment of one or a series of partitions 48. These partitions are shaped to fit snugly between the inclined sides of the receptacle below the screen-cylinder,and they are confined removably in place by any suitable meanssuch, for example, as the guide-strips 44 or grooves formed in the sides 13. These partitions are arranged in the vertical plane of the overlap between the meeting edges of the screen fabrics on the cylinder, and the machine shown by Figs. 1 and 2, employing a cylinder having three dierent screens, contemplates the provision of a corresponding number of partitions 43, adapted to divide the box 12 into a series of four compartments 45. The different grades of grain escaping through the fabrics and at the end of this cylinder accumulate in the diiferent compartments according to sizes of the grain, whereby the different grades of grain may accumulate in the compartments without intermingling, owing to the presence of the intervening partitions. The grain may be retained by closing the valves or gates or it may bc discharged by opening the valves. When the cylinder is equipped with a covering having two screens,

as in Fig. 7, the partitions 43 should be adjusted accordingly-that is to say, one partition is in the vertical plane of the overlap between the two screens, and another partit-ion is in the plane of the free edge of the other screen. In using a covering having a single screen around the cylinder it is evident that a single partition only is required in the box or receptacle. Of course this receptacle should be constructed with grooves or adjustable guide-strips for properly holding the partition or partitions in due order between the sides 13.

Changes within the scope of the appended claims may be made in the form and proportion of some of the parts, while their essential features are retained and the spirit of the invention is embodied. Hence I do not desire to be limited to the precise form of all the parts as shown, reserving the right to vary therefrom.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. In a grain separator and grader, a cylinder comprising a skeleton frame, a series of interchangeable coverings each having a series of flexibly-connected slats and one or more screens attached thereto, each covering arranged to circumscribe the skeleton frame, and a series of annular divided clamps etnbracing the slats of the covering and provided with a separable fastening, for the purpose described, substantially as set forth.

2'. In a grain separator and grader, a cylinder-coverin g comprising a series of parallel slats, flexible connectors attached to said slats, and a screen fabric fastened to the slats and bendable with said iiexible connections around the screen-frame, substantially as described.

3. In a grain separator and grader, a revoluble cylinder comprising a shaft, a solid head attached to the shaft, an annular or ring-like head provided with braces to be fastened to the shaft, a spider fast with the shaft between said heads, a cylinder-covering having a series of connected slats and one or more screens bent around the heads and spider for the slats to lie opposite the arms of the latter, and a series of annular clamps embracing the slats of the covering opposite the heads and the spider, for the purpose described, sub` stantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELAM E. MCLIN.

V'Vitnesses:

H. E. FINCH, J. A. McLiN. 

